Bloody Grave
by OcFudanshi
Summary: He wished he would have been able to see what the future held for the Uchiha clan, but he was fine with this. His life for the clan was fine by him. His clan. His village. He was loyal to both, and wanted to protect both. He had no idea what would happen though. He would die there. Or so he thought... (Disclaimer in bio)
1. Dead or Alive?

**Chapter 1:** Dead or Alive?

* * *

He was happy. Even as he fell, Uchiha Shisui was happy that he could do _something_ for his friend, and for his clan.

He had lost both of his eyes - one being taken by Danzo and the other he gave to his best friend. He feared what Danzo would do with his the eye he had, but he knew that Itachi would use his other eye for good intentions.

As he fell, Shisui's final words had been, "Don't stop me, Itachi... If you're truly my friend."

It seemed that his friend followed through with that. He had heard Itachi yell out his name as he fell from the cliff, into the river below, and was glad that his friend hadn't stopped him.

He, like everyone else, cared about his own life, but he knew his death would help in solving the issues with the Uchiha clan, if only a little bit. As he fell into the rapid river, his only thoughts were about his clan, as well as the fiend he considered a younger brother.

He wished he would have been able to see what the future held for the Uchiha clan, but he was fine with this.

His life for the clan was fine by him.

His clan. His village. He was loyal to both, and wanted to protect both.

He had no idea what would happen though.

He would die there.

Or so he thought...

* * *

The first thing Uchiha Shisui noticed when he woke up was that his body was in immense pain. Yet, it was not as painful as he figured it should be. He could hear a groan from somewhere and turned his head in the directions.

He opened his eyes, but saw nothing.

More pain.

"A-ah! Please don't open your eyes yet! You are still healing!"

The voice came from the person who had been groaning.

Shisui closed his eyes and carefully put his hand over his eyes. He could feel bandages covering his eyes, and going around his head.

Being the skilled ninja he was, Shisui would instantly be on guard with the current situation. But he was more confused than anything. _He had died._ He was suppose to be _dead_.

Yet, he wasn't.

Shisui wasn't sure if this was some sort of afterlife, but he guessed it wasn't. He could feel the pain, he could feel his hearts pounding in his chest, he could hear the sounds of the insects outside.

'Somehow I doubt the afterlife is like this...'

The fact Shisui could think properly, as well as kneed his chakra as usual and wasn't tied up or anything, was something else that made Shisui think he wasn't in any danger. He was a bit on edge, but wasn't exactly going to be firing fire balls because of it.

"Uh... Sorry, but may I ask you to stay still for a little bit? I would like to make sure everything is alright."

Shisui continued to face the general direction the voice came from.

The voice itself belonged to the male, yet it was soft, as if talking to a child. It also held a sort of mature tone to it as well. Overall it was a rather soothing voice that anyone would love to fall asleep too.

Shisui flinched a bit when a pair of warm hands hold his head.

"I suppose I should introduce myself, right? My name is Ketsueki."

Shisui was about to answer back, but he stopped when he felt one of the warm hands touch the left side of his chest - where his heart was.

"I should explain what I'm doing."

Shisui scrunched up his eyebrows when he got a weird feeling. A sort of warmth started coming up and blossomed in his chest. The weird thing was that it didn't feel like it was coming from his own body.

Almost like it was someone else's warmth.

"... How am I still alive...?"

The question that was being repeated in his mind.

"Right... Well..."

The voice - Ketsueki's voice - got lower, more quiet.

"I am a medic. I had seen you in the river, and if course I couldn't let you drown or anything. It is against the purpose of being a medic. I had tried to heal you enough at the river, but you were right at the precipice of dying... I wouldn't even have been able to keep you like to bring you back here..."

If that was the case, why was Shisui still alive?

Shisui still didn't understand.

"I dabble in jutsu formulas... Really, you can just say I am a Fūinjutsu user. Anyways... I had...used a kinjutsu on you...as well as myself... It... It connects us... We share a life now. Our heartbeats beat at the same time, we share pain, we share feelings, etcetera... Although it isn't like we can see and hear what each other see or hear. The jutsu itself isn't perfect, so the connection isn't too strong. While I feel feint pain, you are probably in a lot pain."

Kinjutsu.

That was why he was still alive.

Not only that, he was now connected to this person. A person he had never met, and can't even see. This person who had tried to save his life out of pure kindess. After failing with medical ninjutsu, this man had resorted to kinjutsu to save his life.

Using kinjutsu wasn't against any legal law, but researching it and working on one is against the law. Shisui knew that Orochimaru, a student of the Sandaime Hokage, had run away from the village due to researching kinjutsu. Then again, Shisui didn't know if this man was even from Konoha.

"Now then, I would like to ask you a question. If that is fine with you."

"Yes?"

"You are Shunshin no Shisui-san, correct?"

With a swift motion, Shisui was on guard. Many knew about who he was from that title, so it shouldn't be a big deal. But if this man tried something...

"No, no. I was just clarifying. If I wanted to do something, I would have done it when I first found you. Not to mention you have the Uchiha emblem on the back of you shirt."

Now that Shisui thought about it, he was shirtless. He could still feel the fabric of his pants touching his legs, so he assumed that he was shirtless so that Kou would be able to check the seal he had apparently placed.

"Now I would like to talk about your eyes... I know that Uchiha eyes are special, so I was wondering why you had none in your sockets. I won't ask what happened though. It is not my place. Well, I wasn't sure what to do, so I had transplanted a new set of eyes while you were still sleeping. They are regular eyes that I had acquired from dying people who wished for their bodies to go to good use."

New eyes, that did not belong to an Uchiha. That would mean under no circumstances would he be able to use his Sharingan again. He _could_ always go to Itachi and retrieve the eye he gave him, but that was out of the question.

He is dead to Itachi. And to the village. Going back would cause a large amount of trouble.

"I have heard that there is a special jutsu that can regenerate a person's body part using their cells. It apparently won't work on something major like a limb, heart, or brain, but eyes should fall under the category of 'not major'. It is...also a kinjutsu though. It takes a large amount of chakra and energy, as well as rapidly splitting cells, so it is almost impossible for a single person to perform the jutsu for themselves, or without a medic. I don't actually have that particular jutsu, but I have continued to hear rumors about where I could find that information."

Another kinjutsu that could help Shisui out. The first one was used to save his life. This second one was so that he could regain his lost eyes. There were issues with both of those jutsus though. The first was imperfect, so side effects were bound to appear. The second one was just a rumored jutsu. There was no absolute proof that it exists.

Everything that seemed to be able to help him was a gamble. He was alive because either he or Ketsueki had won the first "gamble" with this connection seal. Could they really try for the second "gamble"?

"So, I was thinking that I could go look for that jutsu. Meanwhile, you could stay in the village, with the people you know. I would of course return to help you regain-"

"I'll go with you."

Shisui couldn't see what Ketsueki's reaction was, but he could feel a small bit of it through the seal they now shared.

"Sorry for interrupting. But due to certain... _circumstances,_ I don't need to be in the village anymore."

"I see... Alright. Having company is always nice. And besides, disregarding my status as a medic, I'm not much of a fighter."

Shisui was grateful that Ketsueki didn't question why he could just leave the village like that. It was easy to tell that Ketsueki was an honest and kind man, so Shisui was fine putting his guard down.

Even without his own eyes, he didn't put his guard up.

* * *

It had been three days after Shisui had been saved by Ketsueki. During that time the Uchiha had gotten to know the person who saved him, although still couldn't see him. He had been told that it would still take some time for his eyes to heal, along with the rest of his body.

Even as he learned more about Ketsueki, he had never said anything about what happened to him. Ketsueki never pressed that subject, or even mentioned it, which Shisui was still grateful for. He did trust Ketsueki more and more as the minutes passed by, but he felt that what was going on in the village - in the Uchiha clan - wasn't something that Ketsueki would need to know.

'How are they doing...? What is going on over there!?'

Of course he would be worried about his clan. He wasn't suppose to be alive, which means he can't go to the clan's compound and check up on them. He felt frustrated about that - like he really couldn't do anything for them now.

He had asked Ketsueki, who had gone out for some things they would need for their travels, if he could find something - _anything_ \- about how his clan was doing. He figured that Ketsueki would tell him about anything he found out. It's not like he _could_ lie anyways.

Something that both Ketsueki and Shisui had learned about the forbidden seal that was placed on both of them was that fact that neither could lie to each other. They could feel if each other's heartbeats were sped up, even if by a single beat. That meant they could use those extra heartbeats to determine if the other was lying.

Another thing they learned was that the farther they were from each other more more those feeling from the seal weakened. That meant that the connection that kept the two alive also weakened.

Feeling much more tired due to the distance, Shisui slowly stood up and walked in the direction the connection could best be felt.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I moved around a bit."

As he walked closer to the wall, stumbling a bit, he could feel the connection grow just the tiniest bit stronger. He was able to regain some of his lost breath due to the distance.

"I guess this really _is_ an imperfect kinjutsu... Heh. Something like this is payment for surviving when I was suppose to die."

Shisui wasn't a bitter person, yet his tone definitely was. He was absolutely grateful, and indebted to Ketsueki for saving his life. Life was always a precious thing that all should cherish, he would never think otherwise. The issue was that he felt bad for Ketsueki, as well as hating how he couldn't do anything for his clan now.

His life, which now seemed like it could disappear at any moment, was connected to this kind man who is literally risking his life by just being involved in any shape or form with Shisui. This life could be used for helping his clan, for helping his village, for helping _anyone_ , yet he also felt like he couldn't do even that much with a sort of anchor now.

He now had something else that was important to him. Not only did he hold his own life in his hands now, but he also held Ketsueki's. That meant he had to be much more careful from now on. That also meant he would have to put Ketsueki ahead of the Uchiha clan and Konoha.

Shisui let out a small sigh as he lowered his body to sit next to the door. He could feel the connection start to grow stronger by the second.

'He's on his way back. What news will he bring? Something good? Or something bad? Whatever it is...just please let me know how everyone is doing...'

Shisui put his head on his arms, which were on his knees. He just had to wait for a minute or so, then he would find out what was going on in the village.

Just as he thought, after a minute, the door opened.

"Shisui-san, I'm back. Although I'm sure you could figure that out."

Shisui could feel curiosity start to form in Ketsueki. That curiosity quickly turned into panic, making Shisui feel bad once he felt his heart speed up due to Ketsueki's panicking.

"Why did you get out of bed!? You're stilling healing! I know the connection was getting weaker, but that was why I came back!"

Ketsueki carefully helped Shisui to his feet before guiding him back to the bed he had previously been on. As he was doing this, he could feel himself calming down, most likely due to Shisui using the connection to help.

Shisui could hear the other man let out a sigh before he heard some shuffling on the floor. He guessed that Ketsueki was going to what he had gotten while he was gone.

"I know you are worried, so I made sure to get as much information as I possibly could." Another sigh. "From what I know now, any feelings towards the Uchiha clan haven't changed. The same could be said for the village. As for the village as a whole, nothing particular seems to be going on. Although... I did see this interesting blond kid running around. It was rather entertaining to see excitement like that. Oh. Sorry, I'm getting off topic."

"It's fine. Knowing that the village is still the same is reassuring. Although, when it comes to my clan..."

"Yes, well... I have also been hearing things about your 'death' from multiple people. They truly believe you are dead, meaning you too extra measure to make sure they did. Something about a suicide... Is that true?"

"..."

"Right! Sorry! I won't pry into the details! Anyways... I'm sure you couldn't feel it through the connection, but a little before I returned here... Someone seemed to have noticed what I was doing. Actually, more than just one. There were quite a few in the shadows, keeping an eye on me. I had managed to lose them with some barriers I used on myself."

"Was there anything else particularly odd about them?"

"No. I'm guessing they are Konoha's ANBU though. There _was_ this young man as well. He was also from the Uchiha clan. He was actually a kind fellow, although a bit stoic. Wait, isn't that all of them...? Well, anyways... He also noticed what I was doing and actually confronted me about it."

'Could it have been...?'

"I hadn't told him anything about you. I had told him that I was here to stock up on supplies for my travels, which I was. I was just looking around to see what Konoha was like. I'm not too sure if he completely believed me though. His expression didn't give anything away."

"Did he give his name?"

"Yeah. He said his name was Itachi. Uchiha Itachi."

Shisui couldn't help the small chuckle that came out. Of course Itachi would notice something like that, as well as keep a nice poker face the whole time. It was just like him to be able to do something like that.

Shisui felt a hit of relief wash over him. He could also feel happiness coming through the connection he had with Ketsueki. It seemed that his relief had affected Ketsueki as well.

"Ketsu-san, thank you."

"Of course."

* * *

"I will take the bandages off now. Again, I apologize for making you keep them on for so long."

Shisui gave a smile as he sat against a tree.

The two had left the village at last and were currently in the woods a few miles away. Shisui had been waiting to finally see again, but he had been told multiple times that he needed to keep the bandages on. It seemed that Ketsueki was a bit of a worrywart and didn't want to take any chances concerning Shisui's eyes and eyesight.

Now that it had been a few days, Ketsueki seemed fine with taking the bandages off. They were on a break right now, so there was no rush in anything.

"I understand," Shisui said as he waited for the bandages to come off. "By the way, where are we headed first?"

"Oh. First we are going to head over to Kumogakure for a mission I have received. Afterwards we will head to the ruins of Uzushiogakure, or at least where they should be. That being said, we have to stop near Kirigakure at some point to see what is happening and stay up to date. I know your eyes take top priority for you and...Kumogakure and Kirigakure may not be places you wish to go, but..."

"It's fine. Missions are important, especially since we don't have a village to completely stay at. My eyes can wait."

As he finished speaking, Shisui could feel the last piece of the bandages come off his head. He didn't open his eyes since he thought it would be best for Ketsueki to tell him when to do so.

"Alright. You can open your eyes now."

Doing as he was told, Shisui started to slowly open his eyes. His vision was a bit blurry, but he got use to it in a few seconds. He figured that, out of respect and gratitude, the first thing he would see was the person who had helped him out.

"You look different than what I had thought you would look like."

"Eh!? Really!? I am sorry then..."

Shisui looked forward at the man who seemed to be in his late twenties with short black hair and brown eyes. As Shisui got a better look at Ketsueki he could see that, despite everything he had said, the man was actually rather muscular with his skin being tan. Ketsueki was currently wearing a simple yukata top with pants and sandals.

Shisui gave a laugh and patted Ketsueki's head when he saw the older man looking down like a sad puppy.

"I didn't mean anything bad by it! I was just saying you look better than how you described yourself!"

"I-I see. Well, what do you say you get changed? We stuck with that outfit since you could change into it without much thought, but I'm sure you would prefer something different."

Shisui nodded his head and pulled out the outfit he had been given by Ketsueki. He headed behind the tree and started to get changed.

While the Uchiha was doing this, Ketsueki decided to start a new conversation.

"Hey, Shisui-san-"

"No need for the 'san' at this point. Shisui is fine."

"Right. Shisui...kun, would you mind doing me a favor? Since we will be traveling together now."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Well... Since you are a well known shinobi, I am sure you know a good amount of different jutsu. I wanted to know if you could teach me some. Nothing major like elemental jutsu, but other things like-"

"Like Shunshin?"

"Anything would be fine. As I said when we first met, I'm more of a Fūinjutsu user. I do some other things like what they teach in academies, but nothing other than that. Ah. Excluding those kinjutsu."

"Alright. I owe you much more for saving my life and keeping me up to date on what has been going on, so teaching some jutsu is definitely more than okay."

Ketsueki was about to give a response, but stopped when Shisui come from behind the tree with a "Tada!"

Shisui held his arms out as he stood there in his new outfit. This one consisted of a yukata top as well, although this one reaching just below his waist, and pants. A sash held the top together while bandages were wrapped around his wrists going up his arm a bit and ankles going up his legs a bit. He wore the standard shinobi sandals. He no longer had his hitai-ate and instead had a bandana that pushed his hair back a bit.

Ketsueki have a smile and thumbs-up at the new look.

"Nice, huh? Oh, and thank you for putting the seals on the inside of the outfit and bandages."

"It is no problem. Keeping your hitai-ate and blade close is something I would not want to take from you."

Shisui gave a nod and smile of gratitude. While he was no longer able to go back to Konoha he still wanted something that would remind him of his reasons for doing what he did. He felt rather lucky to have met such a person like Ketsueki.

"Now then," Ketsueki said as he stood up, "shall we get going?"

"Right."

* * *

 **And there's that. I apologize if it sucks. Also, I apologize for the way I kept Shisui alive. I wasn't sure how I was going to do that. So Kinjutsu was my best bet. Still hope you liked it though.**


	2. Travel

**Chapter 2:** Travel

* * *

One thing that Uchiha Shisui had learned about his new companion was that he was lazy when relaxing.

"Man~ This feels sooooooooooo nice~ Right~?"

Shisui could only stare at Ketsueki as the older man sunk further into the hot water from the hot springs.

This had not been the first time something like this had happened. Multiple times Shisui had been forced to make Ketsueki get up from a comfortable sleep or drag him out from a nice hot bath. Apparently once Ketsueki was comfortable and relaxing he would not move unless forced.

What made things worse for Shisui was the fact that he could faintly feel all of the comfort and relaxation that Ketsueki was feeling. It took a good amount of his own willpower to force the older one to get going.

Things were very difficult for Shisui right now with both of them being in the hot and relaxing water.

It was not that Shisui did not enjoy relaxing, it helped him ease his mind from Konoha. The real issue was that he feared that if both of them started getting too comfortable one, or both, may end up under the water with no air.

 _We made it to Yugakure but now I have to get Ketsu-san moving again. He said he wants to get to Kumo quickly but he can never resist hot springs or bathhouses._

Shisui let out a small sigh as he moved over to lift Ketsueki above the water for the fifth time already.

Deciding that he would get the other talking so he would not fall again, Shisui started speaking while he made sure to be ready to catch Ketsueki.

"Ketsu-san, can you tell me any more about our seals?"

Ketsueki really did not seem like he was paying much attention. His cheeks were red and a happy smile was on his face as if he just drank his life away and lived the happiest of lives.

"Blub blub blub... Not sure~ Although it is a kinjutsu that connects two lives together~ That means I cannot use this jutsu on anyone else~ That also means Shisui-kun is special~ Blub blub blub..."

"So a third connection can't be made? Two lives are stuck together until they die. What if the seal is removed? As in my case where I was dying but got better with your help, how would removing the seal effect the ones connected?"

"Do not know~ Blub blub... Maybe~ Maybe the two connected die~ Maybe it just gets removed like a bandaid~ Blub blub blub... This jutsu is still new to me too~ I had found it in a secret scroll that was given to me as payment for a job~ Blub blub blub... They seemed rather eager to get rid of it~"

Shisui scrunched up his eyebrows in thought as he placed his hand on his chin.

For anyone to give away kinjutsu like that means there was something major going on. Either the person wanted to get rid of the scroll completely or they _wanted_ the person to use the jutsu.

A jutsu like this could actually be a powerful weapon that could quickly end someone's life by giving up another.

It may have already been used for such a thing in the past.

"It might be the latter. If they wanted to get rid of the scroll then they would have burned it. Or at the least gotten rid of that jutsu. Someone most likely wanted you to use that jutsu. I can guess that it may have been as some sort of experiment. What do you think, Ketsu-san?"

"..."

"Ketsu-san?"

"..."

"Ke-... Gah!? Ketsu-san! I knew I felt something off but I didn't think you would be dying underwater with such a happy expression! You're suppose to be gasping for air, not looking ready to pass on in a bed of flowers!"

Shisui quickly lowered himself to lift Ketsueki up and above the water once again. He could feel the water that had gone into Ketsueki through his nose and mouth but knew it would be pointless if he himself tried to get it out.

Letting out a more frustrated sigh, Shisui started pulling Ketsueki, this time towards the exit.

"Alright. I think it's about time you got out. We need our rest for traveling tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be a hassle to get you up again, so let's go."

"Aw~ But I love the water, Shisui-kun~ Can we not stay in just a little longer~?"

"No. It's hard enough getting you out while I'm being pelted with these warm feelings. I don't need to add to it by staying in."

"Poo~ You are no fun~ Oh! I get it! You think your in charge because you have a bigger dick!"

"That has nothing to do with it! Are you drunk!? Did you drink something heavy when I wasn't looking!? No... That can't be it. I would feel it as well! Seriously! How can you be like this when all you did was stay in the-... Oh... Ooooooohhhhhh... Feeling kinda...light headed... I've got it now..."

* * *

Shisui had barely made to their room before both landed on the ground with loud thuds. Poor Shisui was stuck under half of Ketsueki's body from holding him up, leaving him no room to move.

It would have been easy for Shisui to get out from under Ketsueki, but it was made difficult when he had to share things like tiredness and laziness with Ketsueki. Who, might I add, is already asleep.

Not finding any strength to even stay awake was now a something Shisui was struggling with. After a few seconds of just laying there he decided he would just sleep there as well.

* * *

The next day had been a terror for the two of them. Ketsueki had trouble getting up while Shisui had trouble with the same thing, as well as getting his companion up.

After twenty minutes the two were able to get up and get ready for their travels.

They both simultaneously let out yawns as they walked along the road.

"So... How far do you plan on going today, Ketsu-san?"

"Who knows..."

As the two continued to walk around Shisui noticed something off. The path they were walking down did not send them in the direction of Kumogakure, rather it let them in the direction of a general forest.

He tried to sense if anyone was following them but nothing came up on his internal radar. They were just walking to the forest for no apparent reason.

As he turned back to Ketsueki he noticed that the man was performing a familiar set of hand seals.

 _Summoning?_

As if to answer his question, Ketsueki walked towards an open area between the trees and calmly placed his hand on the ground. A series of jutsu formula quickly appeared on the ground like a sort of spider net.

A puff of smoke came from the spot where Ketsueki had placed his hand. Once the smoke cleared, a small mouse could be seen standing there on its hind legs. A small scroll was attached to its back with thread.

"You're contracted with mice?"

"Not just mice."

As he spoke, Ketsueki took the note from the mouse and began to read it.

"I have many contracts with all sorts of animals. Since I have such a large amount of different contracts I can rely on them for different tasks. These mice are usually used for infiltration and delivering messages from special customers."

"Special customers?"

Ketsueki nodded as he handed the small paper over to Shisui.

"There are much smaller villages, as you know, that cannot afford to hire large villages for certain types of work. That is where I-... Uh. _We_ come in. We do those jobs at a cheat price to at least get some money while we go to our destinations. That being said, these are customers who I have already done business with. No need to be too wary of them."

"Right. So this job is..."

Shisui looked down at the paper in his hands and started reading it over.

"'We require your assistance once again. This time we would like for you to find and retrieve Tonbokiri. More details will be given nice you arrive.' Tonbokiri? I feel like I've heard that name before..."

"It is a special spear that is said to be able cut anything. That rumor was made when a dragonfly landed on its blade and instantly got cut in half. It once belonged to a man named Honda Tadakatsu. He has been dead for around three years now. Apparently no one can use the spear though. Well, at least it's true ability to cut through anything. He had some children but even they do not seem to be able to use it. As far as I know that is."

"Interesting... So, how far do we have to go?"

Ketsueki bent down and gave the small mouse a few grains of rice before standing up and saying,

"Well, I may have called them a village but they are more like a wandering tribe. If they are able to send a request then they cannot be too far away."

Shisui nodded his head and looked down at the mouse before it was gone in a puff of smoke.

 _Why... Why did that mouse glare at me...?_

Ketsueki gave a glance at Shisui when he felt curiosity going through their connection. Having mistaken what the curiosity was for he turned around and started speaking again.

"No need to worry. They are quite easy to find once you have met them properly."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Okay."

Being satisfied with the answer, as well as feeling the curiosity lower, Ketsueki nodded his head and started walking away.

Shisui followed closely behind while fixing the cloth that held his hair up.

"While I have the topic on my mind..." Ketsueki turned his head to see if Shisui was paying attention to him. "Would you like to make a contract for summoning? You seem like the type would would get along quite well with a good number of different summoning."

"I'm fine, thank you. I am actually contracted with the crows."

"Really now? I must admit that the crows are not a summoning that I am contracted with. Well, that is fine. If you would even want to make a contract then just inform me. I shall see which would be a good fit for you."

"That's kind of you."

As they spoke, Shisui remembered something.

Itachi also sighed the contract with the crows.

It would be a good way for Shisui to keep up by using the crows that had been summoned by Itachi. But the reverse could also be true. Itachi could find out that Shisui was still alive and wandering around.

The more he thought about it the more he considered canceling his contract with the crows and getting a new one from Ketseuki.

"Ketsu-san, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to stop to do something real quick."

"That is fine. What is it that you need to do?"

Shisui did not answer right away and instead took a few steps back while biting his thumb. He performed the hand seals necessary for the jutsu and slammed his hand onto the ground.

A puff of smoke came up from the jutsu formula that spread out like a spiderweb on the ground.

Once the smoke cleared the two could see a black crow with three legs standing there, looking around.

"Oh. It's you. My, you certainly changed your appearance."

"Yeah. Hello, Yata-san. I have a favor to ask of you."

Ketseuki looked at the two talking before nodding his head a bit and pulling out a small notepad to write on.

The three-legged crow noticed this and quickly turned his body to face Ketseuki.

"And who might you be?"

"Yata-san, this is Ketseuki. Ketsu-san, this is the keeper of the crow summoning contract."

"I am Yatagarasu. You may refer to me as Yata-san, though."

"Oh. Hello, Yata-san. It is very nice to meet you."

"A polite fellow, huh. Very good, very good."

Being pleased with the interaction, Shisui smiled a bit.

This special crow was rather picky about who he would interact with, leading to some incidents occurring.

Knowing that he got along with Ketseuki was a relief.

"Now then." Yatagarasu turned back to Shisui. "What did you want? Last I heard; you had died. Clearly that isn't the case since you have summoned me. What's more is that your name was not erased from the contract listing."

"Right. That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I was suppose to have died, hence the rumors, but Ketsu-san here had saved me. That being said, I am no longer affiliated with Konoha and would like to keep my identity a secret. Could you not tell anyone else about this? And also, could you possibly make it so that no one could see my name on the contract listing?"

"Hm... That first one won't be much of a problem. Keeping others from seeing your name will be the real issue. You clearly don't want to cancel your contract yet you don't want to be known."

"Right. I had considered canceling my contract but decided not to. The crows have always been helpful so it would have been insulting if I just concealed it."

"Smart choice."

Yatagarasu nodded his head a few times.

The summoning contract for the crows was not a particularly hard one to come by, but that did not mean there were things one should do should they come across it. One of the things is that if you were to make a contract with the crows and then insult them in some way then something bad would most likely happen.

Shisui knew this more as a myth than anything else, but he had been contract with the crows for a while now and even helped Itachi out by getting him to sign the contract as well. He did not want to go against the crows after they had helped him out before.

"Now then, I shall see what I can do for you."

"Excuse me. I have an idea you could try. If you want that is."

"What is it?"

"Well, since Shisui-kun cannot go around using his real name, why not switch his name on the contract to his new name?"

"That's not a bad idea. Very well. I will see what I can do. Just sit tight and wait. Also, try not to summon us until I get things settled. I will send a messenger once everything is done."

"Alright. Thank you, Yata-san."

The three-legged crow gave a nod before turning to the older man. He gave a slight bow before dissapearing in a puff of smoke.

Having nothing else to do the two started walking back to the main path so that they could get to their new destination.

A comfortable silence fell upon the two with the only interruptions being the sound of the wind and rustling leaves from the trees around them.

It was peaceful.

* * *

 _This small side mission might not be much, but the issue at Kumogakure could be more troublesome than I had originally thought. Even after looking over this image, I cannot figure out how to undo this seal. It has to have something special to it seeing as how I cannot even replicate it properly._

Ketsueki let out a small sigh as he looked at the paper in his hand.

While dealing with this Tonbokiri issue and fighting the small group of travelers was their main issue right now, they did have major missions that had been given to them from others.

One being a direct one from Kumogakure's Raikage himself.

Sensing the worry and frustration through the seal, Shisui looked up at Ketsueki and started to speak.

"What's wrong, Ketsu-san? Your frustration is coming through loud and clear."

"Huh? Oh. My apologizes. I did not mean to send them through. I suppose we will have to keep that in mind more. As for your question... I am fine. There is just a small issue that I must deal with before we reach Kumo. Do not worry, though, I will make sure it is done so we do not have to stay too long over there."

"Is there something I can help with?"

"No offense but, I do not believe you can help in this kind of thing. This seal is just too much for even me to handle.

"No offense taken. Would you mind if I at least look at what it is. I'm not saying that you can't handle this, but sometimes you need a different outlook to get something."

He knew that what Shisui was saying was true and that it was said with good intentions. Figuring that there was nothing to lose by letting him see it, Ketsueki passed over the image to the Uchiha.

Shisui examined the seal and even turned it from multiple angles. The more he looked at it, the more confused he got.

Ketsueki had to admit that it was a bit endearing.

After a few more econds of looking at it, Shisui handed it back to the older man.

"Some of those I don't recognize while others look like they are reversed or used in a different way."

"That is precisely the same issue I am coming across. I am not sure if this is an old style of fuinjutsu or a made up one. Practitioners of fuinjutsu tend to diverge from the norm when they are good enough. Sometimes they even go so far as to create their own jutsu formulas so that others cannot find a way to undo whatever it is."

"Is that so? Does that mean you do the same? You're a master at it, right? I'm guessing you have a good amount of original jutsu formulas."

There was a small silence between the two. Even with that silence, Shisui could feel his cheeks heat up a bit.

He quickly turned to Ketsueki and saw that the older man was certainly blushing. The shyness and embarrassment was coming through their connection so smoothly that Shisui almost thought that he himself was embarrassed.

"Hehehe... Ah... Well... I, um... I suppose that I do have _some_ original material... Although it is most certainly not much! I am not on the level of having them work!"

"Ketsu-san... I can easily tell that you are lying."

Shisui looked up at his new friend with a playful grin on his face.

He was about to start talking again when he felt something off on the distance.

They were in the woods, so an animal or two was something to be expected. The only thing was that he was definitely feeling the chakra of a human. Although it also did feel like an animal was watching them.

He looked at Ketseuki to see that the man also noticed this, but he simply did not seem to care about it.

"Ketsu-"

Before he could even begin his sentence, Shisui turned around as something flew towards them. He was quick enough to bring out a kunai to deflect the shot, just not the second one that was right behind it.

Luckily, Ketsueki was also fast in dealing with the attack. He grabbed the second arrow before putting his arm down while looking in the direction the arrows had come from.

"No need to attack us! We are here to find out who had taken the Tonbokiri!"

The moment he finished the sentence, something appeared before them.

Shisui had to admit that the speed the person had just shown was quite amazing. That was really saying something when he was known as Shunshin no Shisui.

"I apologize for attacking you like that. My intention wasn't to be hostile. I just wanted to see if you really are worth our time."

Now that the person was in front of them, the two could now see that their mysterious attacker was an interestining looking woman.

She was a girl clad in verdant green with cold, sharp eyes containing a beastly glint. Her hair was stretched out long and unkempt, and it is completely lacking in the silkiness that would be found amongst most woman. She was someone who could be called a beautiful beast in human form.

"That is a very nice look. It certainly blends well with the forest."

"It changes depending on where we are. Kiri and Kumo, it usually goes with a gray color. I digress."

The girl turned around and started walking back into the forest.

"My name is Shahō. Now follow me."


End file.
